paddington rooftop garden
This project was for a narrow, curving roof terrace overlooked by office buildings and within sight of Paddington Station. The property was a ‘pied à terre’ for clients who lived overseas but wanted somewhere to eat outside and sunbathe on their visits to the capital.
For any rooftop the main design considerations are to ensure that any added weight is within the structural roof tolerances and that any structures are wind resistant. Planting has to be tough and forgiving to cope with exposure to all the elements.
Due to the shape of the space there were limited options available for the siting of the eating area – the whole of the curved balustrade had to be kept clear in order to provide access for the window cleaners to clip on to it. A neighbouring rooftop area had an existing garden visible from the property, from which I took a cue so that the styling of the two related to each other in using timber for the planters and in some of the planting choices. This way, even though the two areas were separate physically, they were linked visually.
Three built in cedar-clad planters were incorporated to house the bulk of the planting, with aluminium trim in which up-lighters would sit. Free-standing and moveable containers made up the rest, for topiary and other architectural plants.